St. Andrews School

A second home, a school family

Whether a St. Andrew’s student moves into a residence hall or remains at home, the moment they enroll here they gain a second home and a school family.

Our boarding students come from across the region and around the world and immediately find welcoming peers and experienced teachers — all of whom work conscientiously to make a challenging transition easier. And in return, our boarders gift our community with fresh perspectives and a national and global awareness that infuses our lessons and conversations. Our day students also constitute an integral part of St. Andrew’s lively 24/7 culture. They arrive early for breakfast, stay after dinner to study and socialize, spend time hanging out and sleeping over in our dorms, and come to campus on weekends and holidays to take part in special programming and weekend events.

All St. Andrew’s students benefit profoundly from day and night access to faculty members, from peers who offer diverse perspectives and uncommon kindness, and from extraordinary extracurricular opportunities to go, see, serve, and experience together. Our boarding atmosphere bonds our students into a tightly knit learning community, which, in turn, empowers everyone to rise to greater expectations and meet higher academic standards.

Is St. Andrew’s the right place for your student to live and learn? Please call our admission office at 401-246-1230 to learn more and to schedule a campus visit.

Character Education

This statement of central character goals honors the Chapin tradition and St. Andrew’s School’s enduring and evolving mission of service. By combining an atmosphere rich in empathy with high individual expectations for conduct and effort, we seek to elevate every student on a moral and ethical level. These character goals serve as guiding principles for co-curricular programming in areas such as community service, student leadership, spiritual life, and residential life, while also influencing our curriculum choices and disciplinary systems.

Weekend Activities

24/7 Residential Culture

There is always something to do at St. Andrew’s School! Our weekends are filled with numerous activities that are interesting, enjoyable, and most of all, fun! Taking advantage of our proximity to Newport, Providence, and Boston, activities may include visits to museums, attending a concert or sporting event, or taking part in Providence’s WaterFire event. Other popular activities include movies on the Buckley Henius Quad, hiking, skiing, ice skating, bowling, and school dances. Every weekend, there is at least one scheduled “Errand Van” to take students to nearby grocery and department stores.

And because our school community is committed to making a difference in our world, our weekends almost always include an opportunity for our students to be of service in our local community. In past years, weekend service opportunities have included participating in the annual International Coastal Cleanup Day, volunteering at Just One Lunch or for Habitat for Humanity, or assisting with a local fundraising event.

Residential Life Curriculum

The mission of the St. Andrew’s Residential Life Program is to foster the personal growth of each student as an individual while living within a diverse community setting. Using the principles of self-discipline and empathy as a guide, we educate our students academically, socially, emotionally, and culturally, carefully nurturing their intellect and spirit as they move toward living a balanced, fulfilling life. Our explicit residential curriculum helps each boarder develop proficiency in three key areas:

• Independent Living Skills: We want each student living in our dorms to develop healthy individual habits with relation to cleanliness, sleep, nutrition, and time management. Moreover, we want them to understand how their personal choices affect the community and world around them and do so by fostering awareness of concepts such as digital citizenship and environmental sustainability.
• Empathy and Compassion: Our boarding students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and we view it as paramount that they develop the ability to understand others’ perspectives and help one another to succeed. All boarders are required to take a seminar class in empathy, which focuses on topics such as cultural difference, common space language, conflict resolution, and how to communicate properly within social relationships.
• Self-Discipline: We incentivize our boarding students to develop disciplined habits that will lead them to success in college and beyond. From developing strong study habits and time management skills to learning to self-advocate appropriately, we want our students to ultimately feel as if they are in control of their own learning.

The residential curriculum is delivered to students through a blend of orientation programs, residential systems, student leadership and mentorship, health and spiritual life programming, weekend programming, and evening classes. It provides the St. Andrew’s boarding student with an educational experience that is truly 24/7.